How to Clean Dried Cement on Tools

Anna RobertsUpdated February 21, 2017

Working with cement can be messy. If you have cement that has dried on your tools it can be difficult to remove, but with a little patience and elbow grease you can clean them up again. There are four possible methods below. Begin by trying the individual steps one at a time, not necessarily in order. It is likely that a combination of multiple methods will ultimately yield the best results and you may have to experiment a bit.

Wear safety glasses, gloves and a mask.

Soak the tools in white vinegar. Vinegar will often dissolve a lot of the cement.

Use a pressure washer to blast off more of the cement.

Scrape off small spots with a small, flexible putty knife.

Use a cement removal product. Traditional products use an acid, while some newer products like RoMix's Back-Set work as a molecular cement dissolver by using a compound found in sugar cane syrup. These products can be found in hardware or home improvement stores.

Things You'll Need

Safety glasses

Gloves

Mask

White vinegar

Putty knife

Pressure washer

Cement removal product

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